Thoughts on braided line.

[Earl W Story]

 I'm looking for advice and opinions on braid for BG fishing. The main reason I've been considering it is for my wife. This poor woman can get hung up fishing in a 5 gallon bucket. On an average 4 hour fishing trip I spend half of it re-tying her rigs. I'm wondering if some strong, small diameter braid will make it possible for her to straighten out a wire hook instead of breaking off. And how will the braid affect her casting with a vintage Zebco 33 and will it shy fish away.

[John Sheehan]

Ha ha!, wish I could help but I had to laugh here .Funny post! I only use mono myself .

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Braid in a 33 is no-no. Unless the winding cone is mirror polished where it contacts the line, you'll risk abrading the line.
Braid also wants to hold water and tends to impede the cast in the close quarters of a Zebco nose cone. These reels really are at their best with mono lines.
You might consider...
A. Even lighter wire hooks. Then you are only retying the hook, and smaller lighter hooks are fine for bluegill.
B. Shall diameter fluorocarbon line. Nearly as strong as braid, it'll cast better when wet and resist the winding cones rough treatment.
C. Get her into a spinning reel. Not ideal for braid, but better if you keep it small.

[Allen Morgan]

I'm going to mirror David's sentiments, with one exception.  Braid is perfect for spinning reels.  It won't twist, like mono will.

On my main panfish rig, I have 10 lbs test PowerPro, and typically run 8 lbs test mono or flouro for a leader, depending on water clarity and how spooky the fish are.  When I get hung up, I don't normally straighten out the hook.  Instead, I tend to break the rig off, as the leader is weaker than the braid (most braids typically run twice their listed lbs test rating).

Earl, if your wife is willing to learn how to use a spinning reel, she'll probably also realize an increase in casting distance as well.

I completely understand about not wanting to undo constant tangles.  My second-oldest step-son can just look at a pole, and the pole will tangle on itself.  He just cannot comprehend that he can't let the rod bounce up and down when he's walking.

[JBplusThuy]

I use braided on an old Shakespeare 308 spinning reel, it casts OK. I fish it with a light mono or fluorocarbon leader so no straightening hooks for me. IIRC the Zebco has "teeth" rather than a pickup pin? Not sure if that would be a problem for braid or not.

Your description sounds like fishing with my kids: I won't spend much time fishing myself, mostly just untangling their lines :-)

[Earl W Story]

 Thanks everyone for the advice. The very idea of my darling wife trying to use a spinning reel gave me an anxiety attack, acid indigestion, a feeling of impending doom, and a twitch over my left eyebrow. I can't get her to keep some tension on the line when retrieving now. I can only imagine the bird nests if she used a spinning reel and got a loop in the spool. (Aaarrggghhhhh) I think I'll go with 8 lb. Triline XL and an Eagle Claw cricket hook. You gotta remember this gal uses my fillet knife to cut chunks off a night crawler. So she won't get worm goo under her fingernails. 

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

HHHHHHHHHHHHHA HHHHHHHHHHHA EARL , SO I GUESS EARL FILETING FISH IS OUTTA THE QUESTION FOR HER !!!! NO CLEANING DEER EITHER I SPOSE !!!!  LOFL EARL GOOD ONE BUDDY !!

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Funny Earl! You are probably on the right track with the Trilene.
A fluorocarbon leader could help with the hook, and a very light Aberdeen could go a long way.

[jim cosgrove]

cane pole 

[Earl W Story]

 NO WAY! That's just another word for "Stick to smack Earl with for being a wise ass!"

[JBplusThuy]

I can't help about the other stuff <g> but I do have a solution to spare your fillet knife: pick up a cheap scalpel like they use in biology classes for dissecting various formaldehyde-preserved critters. It will come with a cover for the blade (long since lost mine) and easily fits in a small tackle box or fishing vest pocket. On things as soft as worms, the blade will last forever; I'm still using the one I used in college, with it's original blade. It's almost 25 years old.

Half the time (or more) these days I just tear off the worm chunk because I'm too lazy to get out the scalpel :p When I use it, however, it seems that both halves of the worm survive better; I suppose it's due to the clean cut and lack of stretching of the worm.

[Earl W Story]

 I don't really mind her using my knife, and she has improved vastly in baiting her own hook. Years ago I had her out in the boat with me. I was facing out the back and turned around to see this: She's wearing purple surgical gloves and cutting a worm in half with my knife AND a pair of needle nose pliers. I learned that day that if you're going to laugh at your wife keep it short. A 3 minute out of control belly laugh will result in serious repercussions.  

[Steve Totten]

Hey Earl,  IMHO you won't like braid on an older Zebco.  The braids are so agressive and cut most anything quickly, the braid will cut thru the line pick up pin on the Zebco in very short order.  I used a Zebco 888 on my bow fishing set-up with 200# braid and it cut the porcelain pin off in one or two seasons.  I would suggest using 10# mono with a smaller tip section.like a couple feet of 6 or 4 pound tippet.